Marisqueira Mediterranean Bistro

Great place, Monday night has live music and it’s a lot of fun! Ate there a few times, great burgers, salads and seafood. Only negative — the wait staff is hit or miss.

Have ate here at least a half dozen times and have always found food good. Only once had a problem, found a paper towel in our salad after we had eaten half of it and was only offered another salad. Restaurant interior is nice. Owner is very nice, has often brought free after dinner drinks to table. Have never had a problem redeeming groupons.

DO NOT EAT HERE! I have never had a worst dinner experience in my life! We purchased a groupon to try out this restaurant, which I have since called groupon to tell them to take this place off their site. Included in the deal was a house salad. My salad was drenched in dressing & my boyfriends barely had anything on it. It was so bland that we had to add salt. Then we ordered our appetizer which was rubbery calamari that was beyond bland and the presentation was horrible.
I ordered the mahi-​mahi, which is completely in question. It was a white solid block of disgusting, tasteless microwaved imitation fish? I have not idea what I was eating. Here’s the kicker; the waiter set it down in front of me and asked me to cut into it to make sure it was fully cooked! EXCUSE ME?!
My boyfriend ordered the Veal Florentine, which he too questions the actual meat used. He had one bite and couldn’t eat anymore.
Our sides were rice and mixed vegetables. The zucchini was hard and tasted like dirt.
When we asked for the bill, at the oddest time, the waiter knew something was wrong so the, I’m assuming, owner came over to ask why we didn’t eat what was on our plates and we politely said we had to leave for other plans and literally RAN out of there!
Let me also mention the disgusting amount of gnats that were flying around the restaurant that the waiter would so nicely, swat away for you…
During the meal, my boyfriend even made the comment that we were definitely being punked. I swear there were cameras, and we’ll find ourselves on a future show.
I thought maybe this could be because we had a groupon, but we verified with family/​friends that this was their experience too, as full paying customers.

Wow! If a review could allow zero stars, this one would surely warrant it!
I cannot decide if it was the sauce-​speckled-​filthy table cloths, the food-​stained & water-​spotted silverware, their overall dingy presentation, or their alternating waiters; this place was simply awful!
When my appetizer arrived – not only was the «seafood» an inedible hybrid that could double as cat food (described as actual crab meat, on the menu), it was tasteless & smelled moldy.
The final straw was when the owner stuck his thumb into my dish, removing a fruit fly, dragging it through sauce and into his fingers. He then turned to me, asking if I wanted to order something else… Check please!
This was the first stop for me & my fiancé on our sweetest day visit to Pittsburgh. Needless to say, we will never stop here again… ever!

It would be difficult for me to think of another meal that was a horrible as the one I had here. The food was, in two cases, raw, in all other cases badly prepared and presented. The Seafood seemed frozen and not properly thawed before it was put on the plate, the chicken dishes clearly had been microwaved, nothing tasted fresh. Almost no one at my table finished what they ordered. Even thinking about the meal now, days later, I feel a bit nauseous.
Running a restaurant has got to be difficult, but when you don’t serve fresh food or it is obviously microwaved or pre-​prepared, you can’t expect to stay in business long. How this restaurant survives is a complete mystery to me.
We all sat in wonder how this place could serve us as roundly a terrible meal as they did. We talked about it days after. It will probably be story we tell for a long time.

Wow what a fail! They offer tons of choices of seafood… all frozen and microwaved blandness and awfulness all the way around. chicken dry and obviously reheated. Sides over cooked and seasonless. Felt like I was in an episode of Kitchen Nightmares before Ramsey got in the kitchen to save the diners. Will not be back… EVER!

The food was really delicious, the staff was very kind and attentive.
I really liked how they served the food to us and the timing of the service was also spot on.
I really like the authenticity of the menu and I think that the ambiance is very romantic. I had a very relaxing evening there with my boyfriend.

Simply put, this place cannot compete with the delicious and more affordable food elsewhere. The food is mediocre at best and ridiculously overpriced. To make matters worse, they refused to honor our
certificate because it is restaurant week. The wine is good (but overpriced) and the service is fine, but the entrees seem about 10 dollars overpriced a piece.

Situated within three miles of households with some of the highest food-​expenditure budgets in Allegheny County, this place should be a gold mine of high-​end clientele. Alas, the food quality does not support the price point. Too bad this place couldn’t be more small-​plate oriented with a nod to a modern Portuguese palate. The restaurant business is super competitive, so when pricey fish dishes turn into take-​home cat food, the desire to return is quashed. This is the type of place stuck in the 1990’s with respect to dining trends. A return trip will be welcome but only if the menu changes and the food quality improves. Please!

One of the better dining experiences you’ll have in Pittsburgh. The prices are high, but balanced with a pleasant dining area, lots of menu options and daily specials, and what might be the most friendly and accommodating staff I’ve ever encountered.
I’ve no complaints about the food. I’ve had dishes that I’m taken back by with complex flavor and presentation and others that simply meet expectations for what a good meal should be, but nothing has ever been bad. Not everything is knock-​my-​socks off though, so 4 stars. You can’t go wrong with the seafood here. Scallops are probably my favorite.
Finish your meal with a toasted almond cake and a spanish coffee (beware the massive amount of brandy snuck into this) and be fortunate enough for the owner to consider you worthy of a complimentary43 apéritif and you’ve just had a very good start to your classy night out!

What a fabulous surprise and experience in dining. We enjoyed every minute we were there the staff was attentive and freindly. Our food was perfectly delicious. Definitely going on our go back list.

We tried this place again using a Groupon on a Friday evening. The place was nearly empty @ 7pm and the host reassured us their «rush» was coming @ 7:30pm. The «rush» consisted of three more tables.
The waiters try very hard; they are too attentive except when waiting for your raw steak to be cooked more in which case they disappear for such a long time, we all wondered if they were cooking a new one. Not the case, of course, upon inspection of the returned steak. They also brought us the wrong bottle of wine but we didn’t notice until we began drinking it so «my bad» but I suspect they bring whatever bottles they still have in inventory instead of telling you they are out of them.
Tried the crab (not really sure WHAT that filling was really) stuffed artichokes which were limp and most decidedly frozen prior to applying the microwaved paddles of life. Really poor execution. The cheese stuffed peppers were swimming in sauce and also very limp.
The entrees were really disappointing on all levels. The monkfish stew was exceedingly sparse for a $ 26 dish and the fish was rubbery and decidedly not monkfish — maybe tilapia or some other cheap fish.
The steak came with a rubbery fried egg on it and some weird greasy limp meat — maybe ham sliced paper thin? Not sure. The first steak was blue inside it was so raw.
The chicken florentine had no fresh spinach and the chicken was very overcooked — probably pre-​cooked. This was the best of the worst Groupon options, I suppose.
My dessert flan tasted (reeked) of garlic. It was very bizarre. How does that happen?
Terrible meal. I hope they get a new chef and can pull it back together. It’s such a great space and the wait staff really tries to please.

Bought a groupon this time and selected calamari, which was rubbery and only warm. The heart of palm salad came next — dressing was tasteless. Rolls were delicious and served warm, then dinner was served. I chose garlic shrimp. It was, literally, 30 small sized shrimp served with a bed of mushy rice. Perhaps it is taking the new chef some time to adjust but I did not enjoy the visit this time and really left disappointed.

Absolutely delicious! The bread was crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. I ordered the chicken special– chicken Sicilian and I would come back for this EVERY night. Everyone’s meals had an excellent flavor. Our waiter recommended a Portuguese wine that we all loved. I will definitely be back

Hubs and I made reservations for a Friday night. When we arrived, I was surprised by how many people were crammed into this small restaurant. My guess is they have had a recent surge in business due to the many coupons/​deals they have recently offered. I had purchased a 3 course dinner for two from Groupon. I believe I have seen this restaurant advertised for WPXI just pay half as well. I was also surprised by the atmosphere/​ambiance. The décor was classy and tasteful. The people were clearly enjoying there meals as talking and laughter could be heard from outside the front door.
We were seated right away. Our water glasses were filled and we were served soft yet crusty rolls with butter. Then we waited. And waited. And waited. Someone finally came over to ask if we have been helped 15 minutes later. We said no and ordered wine. And again. We waited and waited and waited. Another 10 minutes went by and someone else comes over to take our order. I’m a bit annoyed at this point and would have considered walking out had I not already purchased the Groupon. However, I am very glad that we stayed. After we got our glasses of wine, I had a very enjoyable dinning experience.
Our choices were limited with the Groupon but we chose the spicy shrimp appetizer to share, the chicken in a creamy spinach sauce with mushrooms and onions, the filet with port wine and mushroom sauce and the flan and chocolate cake for desserts. The shrimp appetizer was just as they explained– — spicy and garlicky. Yum. My only criticism is that we could have used something to eat the shrimp with– bread, pita etc. Within a timely manner, our entrees were served. I had the chicken and am unable to comment on the filet other than the fact that my husband ordered it medium and it was served medium rare. Almost cold in the chewy red center. Way too underdone for my liking. He didn’t want to send it back so he ate most of it and the rice and veggies that accompanied the filet. I thoroughly enjoyed my chicken and the creamy spinach sauce. I only wish there was less of it. The chicken was swimming in the sauce. I couldn’t make out what was actually the chicken. If the chicken was cut up, it could easily have passed as soup. For dessert, we decided to try the flan in restaurant and take the cake to go. I’m not a big fan of flan. Maybe it’s the texture. Maybe it’s the lack of flavor. But, I have to say this flan had a nice crunch on the top of what I assume was carmelized sugar. A welcomed surprise. All in all, the food easily makes up for the lack of service and I would definitely head back in the future.

This is one of those interesting restaurants that has reviews all over the place. Interestingly, I agree with most of the comments from all of the reviewers!
First, the good — we have had some great meals here. Many of the dishes we have tried are really quite good, and representative of authentic Portuguese cuisine. We appreciated the hospitality the wait staff demonstrated, and everyone treated us and our daughter very well. Try the octopus with gorgonzola — not cheap, but WELL worth the price! Anything with cod or seafood is delicious. I am told their steaks are quite good as well, but we have enjoyed the seafood items so much that we haven’t ever ordered it!
Of course, there are also some areas for improvement. The comment one reviewer had about the size of their menu and the number of specials offered is as true as can be. It would be really nice if they would rotate dishes in and out of the menu, to offer some variety and reduce confusion. Personally, I like seeing 5 – 8 appetizers, 6 – 8 main courses, and 3 – 4 desserts on a typical menu. It would likely be best to have 3 – 4 specials in addition to the menu for variety.
Read a little about Portuguese cuisine, and then order accordingly — they are definitely adept at this niche area of cuisine!
More to come as we continue to explore their offerings…

I stopped by here last night with my girlfriend for dinner. We decided to come here because I bought a groupon a little while back for a pre-​fix meal from a shortened menu and boy am I glad that I did. The restaurant is on the main street in Aspinwall and actually in the same location that Mio used to be in. The door to get into the restaurant is covered by an interesting curtain but once I got inside the place looked nice although reminiscent of Mio. Black Leather chairs to sit and white table cloths on every table with a nice looking bar off to one side of the restaurant.
Since we had the groupon my girlfriend and I were getting an appetizer to split, an entrée each and a dessert each. For our appetizer we decided to split to mussels in a white wine sauce. Before our appetizer came out we were served a rustic tasting bread (sort of like a large roll) that was still warm from being cooked. While we were waiting for our appetizer to come out I finished mine which was thankfully replaced whenever the appetizer did come out. The mussels were very good with the broth having nice notes of white wine and garlic in it. Before long they were gone and I was enjoying dipping my second roll into the sauce to get some more of the flavor. For our dinner entrees I was sort of forced into getting Chicken Florentine since the other 2 options were salmon which I do not like and a filet in port sauce that my girlfriend opted for but which I can not have due to the red wine. I will note that I knew this heading in and this limitation was only because we were using the groupon, but I still wasn’t really happy it. It came to the table as two separate parts, a plate of rice and peas and then another plate with the Chicken Florentine (2 breasts) in a cream sauce with spinach and onions in it. Our server ended up serving the first piece of chicken to me onto the plate in front of me with some sauce but no rice. My first bite led me to immediately forgot about the disappoint that I had in ordering it as it was absolutely delicious! The complexity of flavors in with the onions and cream sauce combined with a well cooked, moist chicken breast were amazing. I even loved just eating the sauce on some of the rice. My girlfriend enjoyed the filet that she had ordered but conceded that I probably ordered the better of the choices after tasting mine. For dessert I ended up going with the flan. It was served with a slight drizzle of caramel sauce over it and then some whipped cream and a bit of a harder caramel (still soft) next to it. I loved that I was able to control the amount of whipped cream and caramel that went onto my flan and thought that it had a nice savory flavor.
The bottom line for me is that I will definitely be heading back to this place in the future and I hope to take others as well. Since I was using a a groupon on a place I have never heard of before, I went into the meal with average expectations and the food totally blew me away. I look forward to trying some of the other items on the menu and hope that they are as good as the Chicken Florentine!

This place is a little pricey certainly, but the food is delicious and the portions are enormous. And by the way, their house bread is fresh-​out-​of-​the-​oven and absolutely amazing.
They have a large menu and an extensive daily specials list, so you’ll never be bored of their food. I recently had their grouper in a tequila sauce from their daily menu and it was very, very tasty.
Of their dessert selection, I highly recommend their house sorbets. They are served in the fruit that they are made of (i.e. half a mango, quarter of a pineapple, in a hollowed lemon etc). The lemon, mango and pineapple are all fantastic. My personal favourite is the lemon.
And of course, their on-​the-​house sweet almond liqueur is a perfect way to end the meal there. Yum.

In sum, the concept is outdated [an endless list of menu items which means much is frozen and few are prepared properly] which is obvious in the bland, dry flavorings. Too expensive for the end result.
I typically will not dine at restaurants that choose the novel-​style menus. There is a reason Michelin star restaurants have small menus– they can consistently prepare and serve quality menu items each and every time. Its a string of arrogance to have a lengthy menu. No restaurant, especially in Pittsburgh can keep rare ingredients, in stock that are not frozen to provide them in a fresh and edible manner. Which means one is shelling out 25 – 30 dollars a dish for frozen entrees. The appeal to this is unknown to me. Nevertheless, I purchased the living social coupon and I wanted to be proven wrong– sadly I was not.
The bread, an overlooked detail at many establishments was not overlooked here. The bread was chewy, fresh, and crispy– quite a delightful start to any good dining experience. For starters, I picked the polvo a marisqueira. Grilled octopus with Portuguese blue cheese. Fabulous! The octopus was simply amazing. Even better than the fresh bread. The creamy melted blue cheese complemented the grilled dense and succulent octopus. The price tag may make ones’ head spin at 16+. Ho/​wever, it was worth the one time splurge. Food reviewers have suggested the price is due to importing in the specific type of octopus and Portuguese blue cheese. Fair enough, it was delicious and worth trying at least once.
Brace yourself my friend, that is where the kind words will end.
The entrees my husband and I ordered were a catastrophe. In earnest, it is an embarrassment to fine dining. Jared ordered the suckling pig. Hrmp. It tasted like the chef sucked all the delightful fresh juices from the meat and crispiness from the skin by cooking this dish days ago and reheating it to order. Dreadfully dry, bland pork meat smothered in what was likely once crispy, now soggy, exterior that was overly seasoned with pepper.
I ordered the wild boar. Again, another dish that sat in the fridge for days. The rich game taste was all but absent from this dish. How long does a dish sit in the fridge that even a «game animal» taste domesticated? The rice was slightly under al dente which is as disappointing as it was inedible. The positive glimmer of hope was the sauce the boar was braising in… a cannellini bean tomato sauce. It had a rich smokiness flavor with a hint of sweet. Yet, the beans were the downfall. The sauce was bathing the canned beans. Canned beans. really? I can tell a canned bean from a dried one miles away. Not fooling me on this one. Soggy baby food style beans on leg shanks cooked days ago. Such a shame.
I thought the service was as disappointing as the food. When we were first seated my husband was looking at the wine menu. The waiter asked if he would like anything, my husband replied no and the waiter left. Um, what century did I enter that my opinion matters not? I even tried to raise my hand to get his attention. Nope. No drinks for me.
More fun was in store for us. My husband and I sat in our appetizer dirty dishes for at least 20 minutes. Until a waitress from another table removed them only after I started to pile them together for us to have to room on the small 2 top. Fine dining? I think not.

Based on the other positive Unilocal reviews, I was quite disappointed with this restaurant. The highlight of the evening was the homemade bread rolls which were quite delicious. If I went back in the future, I would probably just get the free bread and a small appetizer or some soup.
The entrées were «okay.» I had some mixed seafood with rice, and my dinner partner had chicken with overcooked vegetables. Both dishes were overly salty and not terribly exciting, but perfectly edible.
If you’re a fan of Mallorca in the South Side, you’ll probably like this restaurant. It’s a similar experience, although less pretentious. Like Mallorca it has a huge list of «specials».